by
Anton Simon (1760 - 1810)
Language: German (Deutsch)
Our translations: CAT DUT ENG ENG FRE
Ein Mädchen ist's, das früh und spät
Mir vor der Seele schwebet,
Ein Mädchen, wie es steht und geht,
Aus Himmelsreiz gewebet.
Ich seh's, wenn in mein Fenster mild
Der junge Morgen blinket;
Ich seh's, wenn, lieblich wie das Bild,
Der Abendstern mir winket.
Mir folgt's, ein treuer Weggenoß
Zur Ruh' und ins Getümmel:
Ich fänd' es in der Erde Schooß;
Ich fänd' es selbst im Himmel.
Es schwebt vor mir in Feld und Wald,
Prangt über'm Blumenbeete,
Und glänzt in Seraphimsgestalt
Am Altar, wo ich bete.
...
Allein das Bild, das spät und früh
Mir vor der Seele schwebet,
Ist's nur Geschöpf der Phantasie,
Aus Luft und Traum gewebet?
O nein! so warm auch Liebe mir
Das Engelbildniß mahlet;
Ist's doch nur Schatten von der Zier,
Die an dem Mädchen strahlet.
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,2,7 of the original text.
Composition:
Set to music by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Das Bild", op. posth. 165 no. 3, D 155 (1815), published 1852, stanzas 1,2,7
Text Authorship:
- by Anton Simon (1760 - 1810), "Das Bild", subtitle: "An Idalien", first published 1792
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La imatge", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Het beeld", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The picture", copyright ©
- ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "The image", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le portrait", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Peter Rastl
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 64
Word count: 346
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
It is a girl, who, early and late,
Hovers before my soul,
A girl, as if she could stand up and walk,
Woven out of the allure of heaven.
I see her when, gently through my window
The young morning flahes in,
I see her, when lovingly, like the image,
The evening star signals to me.
She follows me, a true companion on the way,
When it is calm and when it is crowded,
I would find her in the Earth's womb,
I would even find her in heaven.
She hovers before me in the fields and forests,
Resplendent over the flower beds,
And she glows in the form of one of the Seraphim
At the altar where I pray.
...
Yet the image which, early and late,
Hovers before my soul,
Is it just a figment of my imagination
Woven from air and dreams?
Oh no, however warmly love works for me
By painting the angelic vision,
It is in fact merely a shadow of the brightness
Beaming around that girl.
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1,2,7 of the original text.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 by Malcolm Wren, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Anton Simon (1760 - 1810), "Das Bild", subtitle: "An Idalien", first published 1792
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2017-07-09
Line count: 64
Word count: 462
